Theres a point in Earthbound where youre attacked by a speed limit sign. Its part of the bad guys malign influence spreading across the planet, but it sums up Earthbound in a nutshell its all about how kids think. Why wouldnt psychic energy bring taxi cabs and coffee ups to life? It happens in cartoons all the time, because kids arent yet boring enough to question the physics of a homicidal sideboard (or burping Auton wheelie-bin). Alongside a wealth of alien invaders, youll find yourself needing to catch a ride through a tunnel so the ghosts that live inside dont get you its a routine roadblock that any RPG might throw in your way, but wrapped up in a peculiar piece of child-logic that would make perfect sense to a kid cars can go faster than ghosts. One towns got a zombie problem, anothers been taken over by religious cultists. Ancient civilisations live underground and the local bar is a literal gateway to a world where everyone acts oddly and its hard to walk around. Through it all, adults blunder. Not exactly oblivious to the strangeness all around them, most are nevertheless too preoccupied with thoughts of money, fame or power to really register that anythings out of the ordinary. The grown-up world and Nesss own interact only occasionally, and neither really understand the motivations of the other. As the player, then, much of what you encounter in Earthbound will be strange - but very little of it is out of place.
